Will the change of control on Lancashire County Council make any real difference?

Will Mr Griffin's election as MEP send the shock waves round our local towns that some predict?

Do the results predict what will happen here at the General Election?

I should say that I regard the Tory takeover at County Hall with some equanimity.

Labour really had run out of puff and the change in regime was inevitable.

The first eight of my 24 years on the County Council were under Conservative control.

The first period saw a traditional "shire Tory" regime dedicated to the provision of good services and sound administration, a continuation of what had gone before (people in Burnley had different views after being dragged screaming into the County Council's ambit).

But in 1977 the Tories swept the board, winning 86 of the then 99 seats, with only 12 Labour and just me keeping the Liberal presence alive. The result was a slash and burn approach to services.

Lancashire fell to the bottom of league tables for things like spending on primary schools and local roads.

It's less of a landslide this time and the blue brigade are even promising some early increases in spending.

The days of judgement will start with their budget next spring.

Apart from Burnley (with five new Liberal Democrat members and sadly one BNP) the Tories now dominate East Lancashire.

Can they deliver for this end of the county?

Or will they, like many Labour members who got the heave-ho, spend their time trying to justify decisions made in Preston which are of no help to us?

A first big test will be whether they can keep their promises to grit our roads next winter!

Meanwhile Janet Anderson and Gordon Prentice must be looking aghast at the Tories, and Kitty Ussher frightened to death by the Liberal Democrat wins in Burnley.

As for Mr Griffin? I am angry and deeply ashamed to be represented by this man.

It's good that they did less well than expected in Burnley and Pendle, coming fifth in both boroughs.

But we will suffer from the backlash.

We will need calm determination and clear heads to stop his election causing real damage in our local communities.